Kate Smith

Kate Smith (1 May 1907-17 June 1986) was an American singer who was nicknamed "The Songbird of the South" for her five-decade musical career, which reached its peak during the 1940s. Born in Greenville, Virginia, she grew up in Washington DC, became a singer at church, and sung at US Army camps during World War I. In 1925, she withdrew from nursing school at George Washington University to focus on show business, and she first appeared on the Columbia label in 1926. During the 1940s, she had several hits, most notably her 1943 rendition of "God Bless America", stirring patriotic fervor during World War II. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her definitive recording of "God Bless America". She never married, and she died in 1986 at the age of 79.

Smith was initially honored by the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Flyers, who played her rendition of "God Bless America" at their sporting events; a statue of her was erected in Philadelphia. However, in April 2019, she was wrongly accused of racism by the Yankees and the Flyers, who stopped playing her songs; her statue was even taken down. She was accused of racism for her recording of the 1931 songs "That's Why Darkies Were Born" and "Pickaninny Heaven", although the songs were meant to be satirical. In fact, in 1945 she called for racial tolerance on CBS Radio, saying that racial hatreds, social prejudices, and religious bigotry ate away the fibers of peace.